So this happened to me while I was out shooting this past weekend. I saw two Bald Eagle’s on this great perch overlooking the Yellowstone River. It was a cold day and they seemed to be enjoying the sun. In the perfect world if I could’ve gotten close enough it would’ve been a great shot. But knowing I had to walk over 200yards to them, the odds of them sticking around were slim. So what do you do?
This is a typical scenario of seeing the subject and having to get close physically. With the D5, 600f/4 and TC-17EII on a tripod, it’s not always easy to get that close. It takes practice and patience. You have to walk slow, fleet parallel with the ground, tripod in front you, while taking a few shots in between. This way the subject doesn’t feel threatened. Now the first Baldy bolted before I even got out of the car which wasn’t a good sign. His buddy stuck around longer. But as I crept up he didn’t seem to like the crunching of the snow and eventually took off. I decided to put this image up which is the best shot I managed to capture, which really isn’t that good, to show you why you have to go slow, take a few shots, and then continue forward. First you see the image and then you have to make it happen.